


The Struggle is Real

by critterdee_67



Series: Practice BINGO short stories [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 14:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17624150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/critterdee_67/pseuds/critterdee_67
Summary: N1Castiel is scared of being rejected by Dean.





	The Struggle is Real

Castiel will stand in line for an hour if it means getting that green-eyed cutie of a barista. He even lets someone go ahead of him until Mr. Hottie is the one to serve him. He notices that Tall and Handsome is ready to serve the next customer and he makes his way to the counter. 

“Hey, tall hot chocolate. Right?” the barista asks him.

‘ _ Oh my god, he remembers my order. _ ’ “Yes, please.” Cas is so tired, but he doesn’t want coffee to wake him since he’s on his way home from work when most people are on their way out to work. He really only comes here every morning to get a look at the most gorgeous man he has ever laid eyes on, and that’s saying a lot considering Cas’s profession. 

“Comin’ right up.” the barista winks at Cas, who absolutely does not swoon - internally of course. 

Cas has been coming in for hot chocolate every morning after work for almost two weeks now and still hasn’t gotten the nerve to ask the guy out. He knows he leans the right way because Cas saw him at the club. Cas was just coming off the stage when the hot barista and a few other men took a seat at one of the front tables. Cas is hoping that  _ first meeting at the coffee shop _ is a better story than  _ saw you buck naked on stage _ . He really has had bad luck trying to date anyone who he has met at the club. No one really wants to date a stripper; dating is not what people think of when people in is line of work. Cas plans to work up the nerve to ask the guy out and then if things go well, he’ll ease into telling him about his profession. Apparently, the guy isn’t against strippers or strip clubs in general; he was having a great time at the club that night. 

“Hey, handsome, here’s your cocoa.” 

“Yes… thank you.” ‘ _ Dammit, Cas, use a brain cell _ .’ Castiel takes his drink and ducks out of the shop, completely mortified. 

Walking to his apartment, he sips the delicious drink slowly, savoring every drop, and it is soothing and warm, and the barista called him handsome. 

Once inside his apartment, he sits the cup on the coffee table and flops on the couch, exhausted. He flips on the TV and glances at his cup. “On - My - God.” Cas sits up so quickly he nearly gets dizzy, and he’s holding his cup almost to the point of tipping out the liquid. “512-555-9962. You have got to be kidding me. No WAY!”

He grabs his phone and types in the number for a new message. But, what the hell is he going to say?

           Cas> Hi

Pause… delete delete

           Cas> Hello

Pause… delete delete delete delete 

“Dammit, it's not this difficult to text someone.” Cas reprimands himself.

          Cas> Hi. The hot chocolate is delicious. Thank you :)

          512-555-9962> Hey, glad you like it 

          512-555-9962> and glad you texted me :)

          Cas> so… my name is Cas… what’s yours?

          512-555-9962> Really? You could have just read my name tag… ;)

Cas freaks out just a little, damn, of course, he could have gotten the man’s name from his nametag. Idiot.

          512-555-9962> OK Cas, I’m feeling charitable today - My name’s Dean.

‘ _Y_ __E_ S! He doesn’t think I’m an idiot, now how to sound like I know what I’m doin _ g.’

          Cas> I couldn’t get past those pretty green eyes - you wear a name tag?

          512-555-9962> Wanna debate pretty eyes? Do you wear color contacts or something?

Cas laughs, that’s not the first time he’s been asked if he wears blue contacts to make his eyes look more blue than they really are. He takes a second to put Dean’s name in his contacts list.  ‘ _ Play it cool. _ ’ 

          Cas> Nope. Just plain old blue eyes

          Dean> Honey, there is nothing plain about you. 

          Dean> I’d love to stare into those eyes all night

“Wow, smooth.” Cas is impressed.

          Cas> Me and my eyes are free Wednesday

          Dean> It’s a date - what time and where?

They agree on an old fashioned date with dinner and a movie. They will meet at Saltgrass Steakhouse for dinner and then decide to ride together or separate to the theater. Cas hopes they ride together. 

The date goes great, and they do end up taking Dean’s car from the restaurant to the theater, then spend a good thirty minutes talking in the car after the movie, before Cas finally got out and went to his own car. Neither really wanted the date to end, but Dean needs to be up early for work. Castiel’s next day off is Sunday, and Dean is off that day too, so they make plans for an outing. 

Throughout the week they keep in touch by texting, and Cas continues to come to the coffee shop for hot chocolate every morning after he gets off work. 

The outing on Sunday is perfect. They go to the park and have lunch at a food truck. Dean makes a brave move and holds Cas’s hand as they stroll through the park's trail. They talk about all kinds of things; their likes and dislikes, favorite food, films, cars. They end up in a secluded area and have their first kiss - it’s tame and sweet with only a little heat, due to being in public. Dean is quite the gentleman, and Cas is happy that he hasn’t tried to get into his pants, yet. He still hasn’t told him what he does for a living, just that he works nights at a club. He is so scared now that if this nice guy finds out that he’s a stripper, he’s going to drop him like a hot potato.

Weeks pass, and they continue to date. Usually going out on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, which are Cas’s day’s off, or Sundays when they both have the day off. Some days, Cas stops by to have lunch with Dean, but not often because that’s when he’s usually asleep. 

Cas knows he should tell Dean about his work, after all, he knows what Dean does for a living; it’s only fair that Dean should know.

Two months in, Cas decides he’s going to tell Dean about his profession. He plans to take Dean on a nice Sunday outing and tell him the truth. He will see then if Dean still wants to date, and possibly take things to the next level in their relationship, become actual boyfriends with the benefits that go along with that.  Even with all their make-out sessions, Dean has been patient and hasn’t pushed Cas to go to bed with him. So far, this has been the best dating experience Cas has ever had, and he doesn’t want to ruin things or lose Dean. 

Saturday Cas is nervous about telling Dean, and he has to work, so he psyches himself into getting into his dance persona. He takes the stage, standing behind the curtain waiting on his cue, the announcer goes through his usual intro as the music picks up. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s getting really hot in here!” There are sirens blaring with the music, “I think we might need to call the fire department! What do you think?” The crowd cheers and gets rowdy, Cas’s heart races, and he’s in the zone. “Give it up for everybody’s favorite hot-blooded fireman - Jiiimmmmyyyy!” 

The crowd goes wild and the music thumps, the curtain opens and Cas steps out in his firefighter uniform. His hat is pulled down to cover most of his face. He begins to dance and starts stipping layer by layer, tossing his jacket behind him on the stage and ripping off his tank top and throwing it out to the audience. When he removes his hat and makes a few obscene moves, he looks out over the people for the first time and almost freezes when he sees Dean and his friends sitting at the table right at the end of the stage. To Cas’s relief, Dean looks surprised but not angry. 

Cas decides to finish his routine, playing it big just for Dean, watching his reactions. 

Once his time is up, he grabs all the cash and his gear and heads to the dressing room. He throws on his jeans and a tank top before going out front to face his boyfriend, or will it be ex-boyfriend after this?

Dean is at the bar, so it is easy for Cas to corner him, he pulls him behind the  _ Employees Only _ door. 

“Dean. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I planned on telling you so many times - actually I was going to finally tell you tomorrow, during our date.”

“Cas. You’re a stripper.” Dean states, still shocked and a bit aroused. “So when you said you worked at a club… You mean you WORKED at a club. All this time and you never told me.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“So this is why you have such weird days off? And we can’t go out on Friday or Saturday like normal people?” 

“Friday and Saturday are the busiest nights, and I get the biggest tips…” Cas admits apologetically, “I’m sorry. I guess this is a deal breaker, huh?”

“What deal are you trying to break?”

“You don’t like being lied to, and I lied by omission. I was just … scared.” Cas can’t look Dean in the face. 

“Cas, you think I want to break up because you strip for a living? 

“Well, it’s been my experience that my profession is not something most people want to deal with; who wants to date a lowly stripper. Most people just want to fuck a stripper or show off or try to get me to strip for their friends.” 

“Um, you are not a  _ lowly  _ anything. And I do want to date you, whatever your chosen profession. Cas, the man I’ve gotten to know over the past few months, is amazing and yes, you did lie by omission…”

“I’m sorry, Dean, I…”

“It’s okay, Cas. I understand.”

“So, you’re not mad… or jealous?”

“Well, to be honest… I’m a little hurt that we’ve been going out for two months and the first time I see you undressed is up on stage.”

“Oh… um. I have another admission.” Cas saddles up close to Dean and lowers his voice, “I didn’t see you for the first time at the coffee shop. I saw you here the weekend before I came into the coffee shop.”

“Huh?” Dean looks puzzled. “Oh, Dave’s birthday! You … awe man, did you do the fireman that night?” 

“No,” Cas laughs at Dean’s disappointed look and smirks, “I was a cop that night. You didn’t see me, but I sure saw you.”

“A cop… dammmnn. You and those uniforms!”

“Yeah, seems to be liked by the crowds. I, uh, I overheard you and your friends talking about the coffee shop, and I just had to go so I could see you again.”

“Wait, in a room packed with rowdy customers and strippers, you noticed me?”

“Yes! You were, are, the best looking guy in the room.” Cas smiles and leans against Dean, “So you’re okay with me working here? And you want to continue to go out?”

Dean kisses Cas passionately, shoving him against the wall. “Yeah,  Babe, but you gotta promise me two things.”

Cas tilts his head and looks up at Dean, “Sure, anything you want.”

“First, no more lies - even by omission.”

“Okay, I promise. And the other thing?”

“You gotta share your talent with me - in private - at home.” Dean grins wickedly.

“Tomorrow is Sunday,” Cas smiles, “ I think we can work something out.” 


End file.
